Will You Be My Best Friend?
by TheRedhood908
Summary: Shayera didn't have much of a childhood, and despite having children of her own and a loving husband, certain circumstances bring said fact to the forefront of her mind. Lucky for her, someone wants to be her friend.


"What just happened?" asked the Question as he rubbed his head and sat up from his position on the floor. "Wait? What's wrong with my voice?" he asked, noticing the higher inflection to his tone. Almost like a kid's voice.

"Why does my head hurt?" he asks, bringing his hand up to rub at his forehead. His sight was a little off from the fall but as he raised his hand he noticed something instantly. "What the…?" he asks, seeing how small his hands seemed now. He still wore his gloves but it was almost as if he shrunk in size and was wearing smaller gloves. "Shayera?" he asks, turning to look to his left and right as he remembered that his wife was with him seconds before. They had been on their way to lunch when a blast hit the tower, though the blue wave of energy that they'd seen coming towards them was strange now that he thought about it. It seemed to do no physical damage to the tower but merely passed through it.

"Uggh over here" she says, moving up from her position a few feet to her left. Vic turns and moves to help her, all the while noticing that something was strange. Shayera's wings were splayed out over her so he couldn't get a quite a good view of her, but she seemed smaller. Even her wings were not as large as he remembered them being.

"Wait, something's wrong with my voice" she says, sitting up as Vic gets to her and places his hands on her shoulders. "Mine too. Are you alright Shayera?" he asks, leading to hear turning around. He can't help himself as he lets out a yelp of surprise and falls back onto his rear end. Shayera mimics the reaction almost perfectly, falling onto her rear end too. Her fall was a little harder however, as her wings had inadvertently thrust her upwards. Vic sees the tears start to brim in her eyes as she rubs her back. "Oww. That hurt" she says, beginning to sniffle.

"Hey, it's okay. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you" he says, moving closer and wrapping his arms about her shoulders. "It's okay" she says, still sniffling but hugging him back. Only then do both seem to realize the position they're in and rush apart, blushes spreading quickly across their faces. "Umm, so...you look like a kid" he says quietly, happy that his mask hadn't come off, otherwise his blush would've over run his entire face. 'Why am I like this? We're married! We've done much more than just hug each other' he thinks, chalking it up to his age reversion. 'Ohh yeah...what caused that anyway?' he asks, finding himself strangely analytical at all times.

"Pfft well...you look like one too!" she shouts, putting her hands on her hips and glaring. He couldn't exactly tell you how but Shayera was threatening, even as a kid. He puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I didn't mean anything bad. I know I am. It's fine. We just need to figure out what happened" he says, trying to soothe his now angry wife who just crosses her arms under her chest and lets out an "hmpph" of displeasure.

'Well this isn't good' he thinks to himself, rubbing the back of his head. Shayera wasn't like this, even during their few bad fights so it was a little surprising that she was so bratty during her childhood. Then again, it wasn't a good one from the few things he had gleaned from Shayera about her past so he really couldn't find it in him to return her attitude. He also knew a surefire way to get on his wife's good side.

"You are a really cute kid though" he says, indeed having to smile at how much of his own daughter's looks he could see in his wife. Shayera was on the shorter side with very little baby fat still present, no doubt due to the harsh physical training that Thanagarian parents instilled upon their children from an early age.

His ploy works and Shay blushes, unable to keep the smile off of her face though she does try to avoid eye contact with Vic. "Thanks" she says simply before looking out the window into space. "What happened to us?" she asks, finally seeming to focus on the more important aspects of their current predicament. Vic comes up alongside her and looks out at the Earth, noticing how much of it was now unlit. "Strange" he says before realizing that the tower's electricity seemed to be out as well, something Shayera notices at the same time. He feels her mold into his side, her hand reaching for his own and clasping it as soon as she finds it.

"We...we should find the others. There are others right?" she asked, the nervousness creeping into her voice as her eyes dart around the room. Vic had never really been afraid of the dark, having spent a good amount of his childhood forced to sleep alone in a dark room at night. He never had parents to rush to when he was scared so he found himself growing up at a much faster rate than other kids. He'd always thought Shayera had too, but perhaps she was never fully able to get over her childhood fears.

He squeezes her hand, trying his best to comfort her while he deals with his own confusion and trepidations. Where was the rest of the League? What if the Tower's oxygen supply ran out? What if...no. He stops himself, his paranoia and fear of the unknown being one thing Shayera didn't need right now. "It's alright Shay. I'm sure they're fine. In fact, we should go to the Cafeteria. That's where everyone would be" he says, referencing the League emergency procedures outlined in the guidebook.

"Okay, but...don't let go of my hand" she says warningly, already looking down the dark hallway that leads toward the cafeteria. They weren't too far from their destination but there was still a good distance of dark hallway between them and the cafeteria. "Alright Shay. Just hold onto me" he says, beginning to walk forward with his wife huddled into him. "Hey, by the way, what happened with your wings? I've never seen you not have control over their movements like that before" he says, hoping to distract her as they move into the darkness. "Umm, they're called wing spasms. All Thanagarian kids have them when they're trying to learn how to control them. I...well it hasn't happened since I was eight" she says, obviously embarrassed but now distracted from her fear which accomplished Vic's goal.

"You better not tell anyone" she says, glaring up at him and squeezing his hand harder. "Nope. I won't. It was rather cute though" he says causing her to moan. "Stop Vic" she whines, only making him chuckle. "Almost there Shay" he says, noticing that there is some light peaking out from under the sliding door to the cafeteria. "And they even have the lights on. It'll be fine" he says, hoping that he wasn't going to be proven a liar in the next few minutes.

"I trust you" she says simply and Vic is struck by how much she means it. "What?" she asks defensively when she catches him looking at her for longer than necessary. "Nothing" he says simply before stopping as his hand reaches for the panel. "Wait, do you hear that?" she asks, stopping his hand by grabbing it. He turns towards her but strains his ears, trying to listen for anything out of place. The heavy steel door to the cafeteria blocks a lot of the noise from getting out but he can still hear what is on the other side.

"Do you have your mace?" he asks his wife who just shakes her head. "No. It was too heavy. I had to leave it behind".

"Hmm well I'll sneak in, see what's going on and help if I can" he says before her entire arm wraps around his. "No. I'm coming with. You can't leave me here Vic!" she almost shouts, her eyes wide in fear. "Shh okay okay. We'll go in together but at the first sign of trouble you fly out of there. Alright?"

"Not without you" comes the quiet and embarrassed response.

"Alright. Together then" he says, smiling at his wife before reaching forward and pressing the button, the door opening with a hiss and both being momentarily blinded by the light from the cafeteria. The noise goes from a light buzzing to a myriad of loud sounds in a second, overwhelming them.

Vic raises his hand, trying to acclimate his eyesight to the bright room which was made easier by the light moderator technology he had installed in his mask.

Within seconds it became clear that they weren't in any danger from the Injustice League or any other monsters. They weren't in any danger at all. It was just the other members of the Justice League trying, and failing to figure out what was going on. Or at least he thought so, until it became abundantly clear that they weren't focused on the real issue at all.

"I know you were with her Wally! I saw you look at her!" shouts an irate and now tiny Fire, the green haired Brazilian rushing after a red streak that stops every few seconds to speak. "Bea, I promise. I don't even like Giganta. She's gross and girls have cooties anyway" says a miniature Wally which doesn't help his situation at all, a jet of green flame shooting past his head that he narrowly avoids. "Woah, Bea, calm down" he says.

"Don't tell me what to do! You're not my dad" she says in retort before the two rush off again, apparently having gone in circles in the Cafeteria. Further out J'onn J'onzz sits on the floor, hoarding the stocks of Oreo cookies the staff kept as a special treat. "Come on partner. Me and Mari want some too. You gotta share" says Greg Saunders who looks less like the hero known as Vigilante and more like a kid playing dress up. Mari stands beside him, holding her stomach. "Please J'onn. We're hungry".

"No. Mine" shouts J'onn, an Oreo in his mouth as he grabs them all in his arms and tries to rush off, only to be stopped by Ice. The young girl stamps her foot, stopping the miniature Martian in his tracks. "Share. Now. It's not nice to be greedy" the young girl says as she taps her foot and crosses her arms under her chest. "Ahh, okay" he says, giving Greg and Mari a package of Oreos which Mari eagerly opens. "Yay! Thanks Ice. Come on Greg. Let's go see if Dinah wants one. She seems sad" the Vixen says, grasping Greg's hand and moving off towards a young blonde haired girl that Vic and Shayera assumed was Dinah Kent.

They could safely assume as the girl was wearing a black leotard and grey leggings, a small blue jacket about her shoulders. "I want Clark. Where is he?" she asks, in between crying into her hands and looking around, expecting to find him.

"What's going on?" Vic asks as Wally zips by, quickly stopping him to get an answer. "I don't know. Bea is upset at me for some dumb reason" the scarlet speedster saying as if his relationship problems where what Vic was asking about. "No..Wally, what's going on with us all being kids?"

"I don't know...ohh crap" he says, ducking yet another fireball. "Gotta go" he says, zipping off once more, leaving Vic with nothing more to go on. "We need to get them calmed down so we can get some answers but how…." he starts before Shayera takes initiative.

"Hey! Everybody! Shut up and come over here, right now!" She says, stamping her foot and fluttering her wings. Apparently this is enough to grasp everyone's attention as all activity stops and the kids slowly make their way over.

"You didn't have to yell. I just want to know where Clark is" Black Canary sniffles as she comes closer. The others remain silent but trepidation is clearly written on their faces. "Okay, don't worry Dinah. We can find that out easily. Does anyone have their communicator? If you do, give it to me so I can…"

"Hey, who put you in charge? Ain't we a democracy? We should vote and I vote for me" Vigilante says as Mari nods alongside him. "Yeah. I vote for Greg. Who put Question in charge? He doesn't even have a face" she adds. Before it can spiral further out of control Shayera steps up once more. "I say he is. Understand? Plus he's the only one with a plan aside from chasing each other and eating cookies" Shayera says, causing all of the others to look down, ashamed at their behavior. Although J'onn continues eating a cookie he still has the good sense to look contrite.

"And we're not a democracy. I say so" she adds with a smile, enjoying her ability to make the others fall in line. This was a natural ability of hers and why she was chosen as squad leader of her flock mates on Thanagar when she was ten.

"Alright, so..here" says the Flash, throwing his Justice League communicator to Vic who quickly opens it and begins to seek out the open channel he was looking for. "Thanks Wally" he says simply as he finds the channel he needs and begins to tune in. "And thank you Shayera" he adds as an aside, turning to the girl who smiles at him. "You're welcome Vic" she says as the channel finally finally kicks on.

"Hello? Superman? Batman? Wonder Woman? Anyone there?" he asks as the image on the screen is rather dim. "This is Batman. Who is this?" comes the squeaky reply. "This is the Question. I'm assuming you're all kids too?" Vic asks, with silence answering him. He's about to ask the question again before Batman answers him. "Yes. Before we have to go let me explain…" he says, launching into the quick summation.

"Mordred tricked his mother and banished all adults from Earth. Morgaine Le-Fay cast a spell to ensure the Justice League was around to stop him. At the time we thought it only applied to Diana, Clark, John and I but apparently it's encompassed the entire league, or at the very least the ones in the tower" the caped crusader finishes leaving Vic and the rest appraised of the situation.

Before Vic can say any more Dinah snatches the communicator. "Is Clark there? Put him on" she says before the sound of shuffling can be heard on the other end of the line. "Umm...I'm here Dinah. Are...are you okay?" comes the unusually timid voice of Clark Kent from the other side. "I'm okay Clark. Are you?" she asks, rubbing the tears from her cheeks. "Yeah I'm okay" he says. "Clark. We have to to go" comes Bruce's voice over the line and before Clark can say any more Dinah interupts him. "Kick Mordred's butt Clark. I love you" she says, leading to silence on the other line.

"I love you too" Clark says, obviously embarassed, before Bruce takes the communicator back. "There isn't much you guys can do so just sit tight and wait it out. Batman out" he says before cutting the connection and leaving the screen to revert to static.

Vic turns it off and throws it back to Wally who catches it and pockets it quickly, turning towards his friend expectantly. "What" Vic asked before Wally shrugs. "Well it's just that I don't know what we do now. If Bats doesn't need our help and we're stuck up here for now, what do we do?"

It's a question that the conspiracy theorist wasn't ready for and he turns towards Shayera, hoping that she might have an answer for him but that was a dead end as she just looks confused herself. "Well maybe, if we're going to be kids for a little while longer then….maybe we should just…..play or something?" Dinah asks nervously, shuffling on her feet as if she had suggested something dumb. The room remains quiet for a moment until Vigilante speaks. "What do you guys want to play?" he asks, leading to multiple suggestions all loudly shouted by now excited children. "Tag, no no umm...hide and seek" shouts Wally with Fire breaking a smile next to him, apparently forgetting that she was angry with her boyfriend.

Question just smiles, watching the group argue over what best to play before they settle on cops and robbers. They all run off at random, having selected the teams and how best to play. Vic was going to run ahead and join until he realized that Shayera was gone. He turns his head to the left and sees that she isn't there. "Hey did anyone see…" he turns to ask before seeing the rest of the League playing, not paying any attention at all. "Nevermind" he says to himself before seeing a door close. He moves towards the door and opens it, stepping in and looking about. He sees his wife sitting at a chair, looking out of one of the viewing windows at space. "Shayera? Are you okay?" he asks, moving behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Go away Vic" she says, shrugging it off and moving away. "Go and play with the others" she adds, allowing him to hear the spent tears in her voice.

"Shayera, tell me what's wrong?" he asks, concern lacing through every word. "I'm not going to leave until you tell me and you know it" he adds. "I don't belong with the rest Vic" she says simply resigning herself to the truth that Vic wasn't going anywhere. "What are you talking about?"

She's quiet for a second before sighing and rubbing her own arms. "I...I guess I don't know. Being a kid again...well...I was never a kid the first time around. You know how it was on Thanagar. We didn't play. We trained. We were always scared of the Tammaranians or the Gordanians. We had to be tough and in order to be tough we had to start young" she says before turning and Vic almost breaks at the sadness in her eyes. "I don't remember my mother or father ever hugging me. I...I'm really afraid of the dark, but tell anyone and I'll hurt you" she says, fire coming back into her eyes for a minute before the sadness returns. "I was forced to sleep outside in a tent, to "toughen me up for life on campaign" my father said. I never had parents to run to when I was scared. I had to face it alone'' she says.

"I know what that's like Shayera" Vic says, taking her hand in his. "I know you do. But you're so much braver and stronger than me" she says which causes Vic to laugh. "That's so far from the truth and you know it Shayera. I want to know, what's really bothering you" he asks which doesn't get an immediate response.

"All my life, until I met you, I've just been existing. I grew up and instantly came to Earth, fully intending to betray the people who I consider family" she says, her voice full of sadness. "After that, I wandered around and eventually found my way to you. It's just….I never had love before. I've never had a best friend. Never played tag. I've never done any of those things" she turns to him and looks up. "I just...well...I just want to say thank you Vic. Thank you for everything. For taking a chance on me. For loving me. For our family".

She reaches up and pecks him on the cheek, blushing all the while before turning and looking back into the void of space.

Vic reaches up and rubs the area where his wife kissed him. It was rather funny to him how even after years of marriage, children and life in general that they could be so shy as children. 'Girls go from being gross to being the most amazing things in such a short time. I wonder why that is?' he asks, his mind going down the route of conspiracy and how it could relate. He shakes these thoughts away from his mind and focuses on the issue at hand. His wife wasn't an emotional shut in, by no means but it was rare to see her talk about something so openly. He needed to be delicate. Well, as delicate as a currently young boy could be.

"Well, there's a first time for everything" he says, while taking off his hat and placing it on a table. "And well, you're my best friend. Can I be yours?" he asks. She turns around, a smirk on her face as she rolls her eyes. "Vic, we're married" she says, as if it wasn't obvious to him. "I know that. But what's marriage to kids? Best friends? That's everything. Will you be my best friend Shayera?" he asks again with a smile which causes Shayera's heart to start beating faster and faster. The only comparison she had to it was when Victor asked her to marry him. Strangely enough, the two incidents, despite their worlds apart implications, seemed equal in importance.

"Yes" she says, almost a whisper as the smile breaks her face. She'd been in love with him for years but never once did she think that the term friends applied to her, let alone best friends. It felt amazing to say she was married to her best friend. Not a colleague or work buddy, or even a surrogate brother like Wally. A true best friend. It was only then that she realized he had been her best friend for years without her even knowing it.

Vic smiles under the mask and reaches out, touching Shayera's shoulder. "Tag, you're it" he says before turning and rushing off back into the cafeteria, leaving a befuddled Shayera in his dust. Her shock doesn't last long however, and before anyone could blink she was airborne, taking off after her best friend. "Victor! I'm going to get you" she says, laughing with abandon as she rejoins the others.

_**Four Hours Later**_

"Thank you again Vic" she says, the boy behind her gently pushing her forward on the makeshift swing they made from a chair seat and some rope hung from the rafters. The others were either napping or watching TV, having been tired out by tag and cops and robbers.

"For what?" he asks, pushing her forward every time the Thanagarian girl came back. "For giving me a childhood" she said causing him to laugh. "Well, four hours isn't a childhood Shay" he says, pushing her forward once more as she kicks her legs once, going even higher than normal before slowing down to continue their conversation. "No. It's alot more" she says before realizing that her voice sounded normal again. She turns her head and smiles as Vic is back to his normal size and age.

"Well, I guess they won huh?" she asks, causing Vic to put his arms down and wait for her to get off the swing and get back to business. "That didn't mean stop lover boy" she teases, causing the man to shrug and continue pushing his wife on the swing. "If the others saw this they'd say we were immature" he says, his voice giving away the fact that he didn't care at all.

"So? It's okay if we're immature for a little while. Just as long as we're back by six to make dinner and eat with the kids" she teases.

"Then we have an hour" he retorts.

"Good. I'm not ready for our play date to end" she says with a wink, her head turned over her shoulder.


End file.
